Acetylene-lamp.



F. E. BALDWIN.

ACETYLENE LAMP. 7

APPLICATION FILED NOV-7.1913.

1,174,036. V Patented Mar. 7,1916.

THB COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 50-. WASHlNGTON, D. C.

trio

FREDERIC BALDWIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ACETYLENE-LAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 7,1916.

Application filed November 7, 1913. Serial No. 799,654.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Fnnonmo E. BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene- Lamps, fullydescribed and represented in the following specification and theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to improvements in acetylene lamps, andparticularly small portable acetylene lamps, such as are usuallyemployed by miners.

Owing to the fact that miners lamps must be light and small, manydevices which are capable of employment in lamps of larger size for thepurpose of conducing to the satisfactory operation of an acetylene lampcannot be employed in connection with a miners acetylene lamp. This isparticularly true of devices for washing, filtering or otherwisepurifying the gas prior to the arrival of the gas at the burner. Inlarge generators connected with lighting systems, for houses and thelike, and also in large lamps, the burner is usually sufliciently remotefrom the carbid-receptacle which constitutes the gas-generating-chamberto permit the introduction of satisfactory washing, filtering, orsimilar purifying devices, into the path of the gas. In a miners lamp,however, the burner is so close to the carbid-chamber orgenerator-chamber that it has been found to be diflicult to providedevices which will satisfactorily hold back from the burner the fineparticles of calcium-carbid or lime which tend to follow the gas as itleaves the carbid-chamber. In lamps of this type, where the burner-tubeextends directly from the generating or carbid chamber, it has been theusual practice to provide a filtering device at the inner end of saidburner-tube. Probably the most satisfactory filtering device heretoforeemployed in practice is a mass of fibrous material, such for example ascotton or felt. Such devices, however, although entirely satisfactorywhen new, are open to the serious defects that after a short use theybecome clogged, not only on the exterior but in the interior of themass, with fine particles of lime or carbid, so that the passage of thegas through such a clogged mass of material is very slow. Furthermore,if, by

accidental flooding of the carbid-chamber, the said mass of fibrousmaterial is wetted, the pores thereby become clogged with water and, forthis reason, the passage of the gas through such filtering material isvery slow. As a consequence of this, it is generally the case under suchconditions that some delay arises after charging the lamp and admittingthe water to the carbid-chamber before the burner can be lighted; also,a considerable pressure is necessary to drive the gas through such afilterand hence the pressureon the burner is reduced. Furthermore, withsuch a gas-purifying-device, it becomes necessary, at frequentintervals, to remove the filtering material and dry it or otherwiseendeavor to clean it to free it from the clogging matter. In addition tothe above objections, it has been found that such a filtering devicewill not entirely purlfy the gas, and the burner-orifice frequentlybecomes clogged with particles of llme or carbid, which having passedthe filter come in contact with the inner end of the burner at theorifice. Even when the partlcles are precipitated in the burner-tubewithout reaching the burnerorifice, such particles are likely to beshaken forward against the burner-orifice when the lamp is severelyjarred or shaken, as for example by the accidental knocking over or dropping of the same, as frequently occurs with a miners lamp.

It is the object ofthe present invention to provide means for preventingthe clogging of the burner, which will not become inoperative inpractice, and which can readily be kept in a clean condition.

With the above general object in view and some others which will beobvious to those skilled in the art from the description hereinafter,this invention consists in the features, details of construction andcombinations of parts which will first be described in connection withthe accompanying drawings and then particularly pointed out.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a miners lampembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the slime anddust arresting-device removed from the generating-chamber; and Fig. 3 isa similar view of the spring-clip.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the upper part of a common type ofacetylene miners lamp having a partition 2 forming the bottom of awater-chamber. The lower part of the lamp body indicated at a, andarranged to contain calcium carbid, is secured to the upper part in anysuitable way, as for example by a screw thread connection, as will beclear from Fig. 1, a gasket being provided between the two parts inorder to make a gastight connection as indicated at 5.

The partition 2, forming the bottom of the water-chamber is providedwith a centrally arranged depression or cup indicated at 6, whose bottomis deflected upward to form a recess beneath the said bottom for apurpose hereinafter explained. Through the bottom of the cup extends awater-supply pipe 7, which has its lower end extended downward andarranged to be embedded in the carbid. The upper end of the watersupplytube is arranged to project into the cupped portion 6, this pipeprojecting through the upwardly deflected bottom of the cup.

In the best embodiment of the invention, the upper end of thewater-supply tube terminates considerably below the partition 2 for areason hereinafter pointed out. The water-supply tube 7 is securelyfastened in place by filling the recess in the bottomv of the cup withsolder as indicated at 8. By this means, a long bearing for the tube andalso a relatively long soldered connection is provided. For the purposeof closing the upper end of the water-supply tube so that water cannotpass through it from the water-chamber to the carbid-chamber, alongitudinally movable valve-tube 9 is provided, this tube projectingdownward through a downwardly flanged opening in the top of the lamp andbeing arranged to make a sliding fit with the upper end of thewater-supply pipe 7 The tube 9 has its end outside the lamp arranged toserve as a handle and for this purpose it may conveniently be bent at anangle as shown. Further, the outer end of said valve tube 9 is flattenedor pinched down so as to nearly, but not quite, close the end of thetube, for a purpose hereinafter explained. Within the water-supply tube7 is secured a controlling and stirring rod 10, which is of such lengthas to project through the water-supply tube 7 and below the lower end ofthe same. For the purpose of securing the rod 10 in place, it may bebent at its upper end and extended into the bent portion of the tube 9,the latter being somewhat flattened at the bend so as to hold the rod10, while at the same time allowing the passage of gas through the tube9 at each side ofsaid rod, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

The lamp is provided with a suitable burner-tube as indicated at 11,which in the best embodiment of the invention is arranged to projectradially from the upper part 1 of the lamp-body, its inner endterminating a short distance inside the lamp body. For the purpose ofrigidly securing the burner tube, it is located immediately beneath andcontacts with the bottom surface of the partition 2.

In the best embodiment of the invention, the burner-tube 11 is threadedand on this is mounted a nut 12 to which is secured a reflector 13, theend of the burner-tube projecting beyond the reflector and-carrying aburner 14: which fits tightly onto the end of the burner tube, beingheld in place by friction only. The burner has a suitable gasorifice andis flanged outwardly at its inner margin so as to be engaged by the nutas the same is moved outward in unscrewing. In the present embodiment ofthe invention, the reflector serves as a leverage device for rotatingthe nut.

In order to firmly brace the reflector, a supporting device is arrangedbetween the reflector and the lamp body, this consisting, in the bestembodiment of the invention, of a hollow sheetmetal casing indicated at15, whose outer surface engages the back of the reflector and whoseinner wall rests against and preferably is soldered to the upper portionof the lamp body 1.

The lamp is provided with a filling open ing, whereby the water-chambermay be filled. This opening is closed by a suitable lid or cap asindicated at 16.

For the purpose of preventing the calcium carbid from reaching the innerend of the burner tube, a baflie device is provided, this comprising ameans for compelling the gas to be deflected at some part of its pathfrom. the generating chamber to the inner end of the burner-tube. Thereason for this is that, as the gas leaves the carbid it generallycarries with it fine particles of carbid or lime. By deflecting the gas,these particles, by virtue of their momentum, are unable to quicklychange their direction, while the gas by its deflection leaves theparticles and passes to the burner-tube free from the said solidparticles.

For the purpose of obtaining the maximum angle of deflection of the gasin a small space, the baflie device, employed in the best embodiment ofmy invention, comprises a flanged tray 17 which incloses the inner endof the burner-tube and rests against the lower face of the bottom of thecup, this tray having a central opening through which the water-supplypipe passes, and a notch in one side of its flange through which theinner end of the burnerube passes. The periphery of the flanged edge ofthe tray 17 is within and only slightly removed from the dependingcircular flange forming a continuation of the outer wall of the watercontainer and arranged so that it will not make a gas-tight connectionwith the lower face of the partition 2, but will permit the gas to passfrom the gas generatingchamber to the interior of the tray. In thepresent embodiment of the invention, this gas-passage is obtained allaround the tray by making the inside depth of the flanged edge of thetray slightly less than the height of the cup 6 so that when the bottomof the tray rests against the outside of the bottom of the cup, theupper edge of the flange will not reach to the partition 2.

For the purpose of holding the tray 17 in place, any suitable means maybe provided, but in the best embodiment of the invention this means isof such a nature that the tray may be readily removed and replaced forthe purpose of allowing the tray to be cleaned if necessary. In thepresent example, the tray is retained in position by a spring clip 18,consisting of a flat strip of spring-metal bent so as to form a central,nearly circular portion and flat portions extending in each directiontherefrom. The central. portion is perforated with a hole about the sizeof the water-supply pipe, so that when the clip is forced upward on theoutside of the tube, it will clamp said tube and will thus hold itselfand the tray 17 with which its flat portions contact firmly in place. Atthe same time, by pulling the spring-clip downward by grasping the saidcentral portion, the clip may be withdrawn and the tray then will dropdown and may be removed from the lamp.

The ba-file device constitutes a primary strainer device which serves tokeep back from the burner-tube all slime, sludge or carbid, which mightotherwise serve to clog said burner-tube due to the jarring of the lamp,and at the same time compels the gas to take a strongly deflected pathwhereby all fine particles accompanying the gas are separated therefrom.Furthermore, in case by any means any small particles should enter thetray, they will tend to deposit at the bottom of the tray, which may beremoved from time to time to clean it. From the interior of the tray,the gas then passes to the burner-tube.

Since in practice it is not possible to absolutely remove all the solidparticles by a primary baffle or strainer device, it becomes importantto avoid the clogging of the burner-orifice by-any such particles asmay.

pass the primary strainer device or baffle. There are several ways inwhich this result may be accomplished. According to one form of theinvention, the burner itself is rounded, or coned inward, on its innersurface and the burner-orifice is placed at the highest point, as willbe clear from Fig. 1, so that only those particles which are projecteddirectly to the orifice itself and Whichare larger than said orifice canclog the same, while all particles which strike at either side of theorifice will slide forward on the sloping inside surface of the burnerand will be deposited in the angle between the front and sides of theburner, from whence they may be removed from time to time by removingthe burner, cleaning and replacing it. v s

. Another means for preventing the particles which pass the primarystrainer device, and which are larger than the burnerorifice, fromclogging it, comprises a screen placed in the path of the gas from theprimary strainer device to the burner-orifice, so that all the gas tothe burner-orifice is compelled to pass through the meshes of thisscreen before reaching the orifice, the meshes of the screen being ofsuch a size as to stop all particles which are too large to pass throughthe burner-orifice. screen may be located at various points in the pathof the gas beyond the primary strainer device, between the latter andthe burner-orifice.

In the best embodiment of the invention,

the screen indicated at 19 is bent to a cup-l shape and inserted in theburner-tube close to its outside end. The elasticity of the wire fromwhich the screen-cloth is made serves to hold the screen with suflicientfirmness to prevent it from being accidentally jarred out of theburner-tube. At the same time, by removing the burner, the screen may bereadily withdrawn from the outer end of theburner-tube for purposes ofcleaning or replacing it.

The operation of the lamp may be briefly described as follows: When thevalve-tube 9 is down and in surrounding engagement with the end of thewater-supply tube 7, the Water in the water-chamber cannot pass to thecarbid in the lower portion of the lamp. By lifting the valve tube 9,water is permitted to have access to the upper end of said water-supplytube and will tend to flow down the water-supply tube in the spacearound the rod 10. This space is such as to allow the water to escapefrom the lower end of the tube only in drops. As will be seen from thedrawings, the watersupply tube 7 extends down so that it will beembedded in the carbid, and the rod 10 projects still farther downwardso that the water as it escapes will tend to be distributed by the lowerend of the rod 10. The

gas as it is generated from the carb-id first passes upward, until itstrikes the bottom of the baffle 17, whereupon it is deflectedsubstantially at right angles toward the outer Wall of the lamp, thisdeflection of the gas tending to cause it to drop any solid particleswhich might be carried with it. The gas then flows first in a radialdirection and then upward around the flanged edge of the baffle 17,until the gas strikes the bottom of This the partition 2, whereupon itis again deflected and turns inward over the upper edge of the baffle17. This second deflection of the gas again tends to cause it to dropany solid particles which it might be carrying at that time. Vhen thegas enters the space within the flanged edges of the battle 17, it isfreed from substantially all the solid material and particularly solidparticles of a size large enough to clog the burner-orifice. Anyparticles not this large may pass with the gas through the openings ofthe screen 19 and thence through the burner-orifice. Particles largerthan this size which may still be retained by the gas will encounter thescreen 19 and will be held back by it. If, as is frequently the case,these particles should be damp, they may cling to the screen, for thetime being, but owing to the fact that the screen is in heat-receivingrelation to the burner and soon becomes quite hot, any particles whichat first cling to the said screen will be dried out and afterward willbe jarred from the screen by the ordinary shocks which occur inhandling, such particles dropping to the bottom of the burner-tube.Owing to the fact that the cross sectional area of the burner-tube isfar greater than that of the burner-orifice and since the wire screenextends completely across said burner-tube, the clogging of a part ofthe screen 19 will not prevent a suflicient supply of gas from passinginto the burnerorifice. In this way, clogging of the orifice ispractically overcome, while at the same time the full pres sure of thegas is maintained in the burnertube, which would not be the case with astrainer such as the felt device heretofore used. Where the screen 19 isnot employed, any solid particles passing the battle and large enough toclog the burner-orifice have but little chance to do this because of thereentrant form of the inside wall of the burner, since only thoseparticles which 7 hit directly at the burner-orifice can clog it,

all other particles which hit to either side of said orifice slidingforward and being caught in the space between the front and side wallsof the burner. By the removal of the burner, it may be readily cleanedand, by blowing through the burner-tube, any particles lodged thereinmay be blown back into the baffle. The baffle may be readily cleaned atany time by drawing down the spri.ngclip 18 from the water-supply tube7, thus allowing the baffle 17 to drop down and be removed. The battlemay then be quickly dropped into place and the springelip slid up thetube behind it in order to hold the baflie. It will be noted that thespace between the upper edge of the baffleflange .and the bottom of thepartition 2 may be made as fine as necessary to hold back the particlesof solid material. At the same time, this space should not be too finebecause it would soon be clogged by the accumulation of solid particleson the bottom of the partition 2 and the outside walls of the flange.The formation of the partition 2 with a cupped portion serves tostrengthen said partition very materially and at the same time permitsthe upper end of the water-supply tube 7 to be kept below the planethrough the upper surface of the partition 2, thus allowingsubstantially all of the water in the water-chamber to be used, which isnot the case where the tube projects above the bottom of thewaterchamber. Furthermore, the cup will catch and hold any dirt, such ascoal-dust, which frequently exists in the water, this dirt being trappedaway from the mouth of the water-supply tube and thereby kept fromclogging the same. When the valve-tube 9 is down, the interior of thecarbid-chamber is in communication with the outer air through the tube 7and the interior of the valve-tube 9. This, however, is a'veryrestricted communication owing to the flattening of the free end of thetube 9. As a result of this, in case of a very excessive pressure beinggenerated in the generatingchamber, the gas can blow off through theinterior of the valve-tube 9, before an explosion of the lamp can occur.

The feature of the telescoping valve tube and rod carried thereby arebroadly claimed in my pending application Serial No. 768,775, filed May20, 1913.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In an acetylene lamp, the combination of a waterchamber, a carbid container detachably secured thereto so as to form agenerating chamber, a water tube carried by said water chamber andconnecting said chambers, a burner tube carried by said water chamber, aburner on said tube, a battle device, having an upwardly extendingflange and a central perforation and covering the internal end of saidburner tube, said water tube passing through said bafile device andsubstantially filling the perforation therein and a clamp engaging saidtube and holding the flange of said baflle device in close proximity tothe bottom of said water container.

2. In an acetylene lamp, the combination of a water chamber, a carbidcontainer detachably secured thereto so as to form a generating chamber,a water tube carried by said water chamber and connecting said chambers,a burner tube carried by said water chamber, a burner on said tube, abaffle device, having an upwardly extending flange and a centralperforation and covering the internal end of said burner tube, saidWater tube passing through said battle device and a clamp engaging saidtube and holding the flange of said baflle device in close proximity tothe bottom of said water container, said clamp surrounding said tube ata point below and adjacent to said perforation.

3. In an acetylene lamp, the combination of a water chamber, a carbidcontainer detachably secured thereto so as to form a generating chamber,a water tube carried by said water chamber and connecting said chambers,a burner tube carried by said water chamber, a burner on said tube, abaflie device, having an upwardly extending flange and a centralperforation and covering the internal end of said burner tube, saidwater tube passing through said baflie device and a clamp engaging saidtube and holding the flange of said baifle device in close proximity tothe bottom of said water container, said flange having a notch and saidburner tube extending laterally through said notch.

4C. In an acetylene lamp, the combination of a water chamber having acentral cup forming a depending boss on the bottom of said chamber, acarbid container detachably secured thereto so as to form a generatingchamber, a water tube carried by said Water chamber and connecting saidchambers, a burner tube carried by said Water chamber, a burner on saidburner tube, a baflle device, having an upwardly extending flangesurrounding said boss and a central perforation and covering theinternal end of said burner tube, said water tube passing through saidbaifle device and a clamp engaging said tube and holding the flange ofsaid baflle device in close proximity to the bottom of said watercontainer around said boss, and the bottom of said baflie device inclose proximity to said boss on the bottom of said water chamber.

5. In an acetylene lamp, the combination of a water chamber having acentral cup forming a depending boss on the bottom of said chamber, acarbid container detachably secured thereto so as to form a generatingchamber, a water tube carried by said water chamber and connecting saidchambers, a

burner tube carried by said water chambers, a burner on said burnertube, a baflle device, having an upwardly extending flange surroundingsaid boss and a central perforation and covering the internal end ofsaid burner tube, said Water tube passing through said baflle device,and a clamp engaging said tube and holding the flange of said baflledevice in close proximity to the bottom of said Water container aroundsaid boss, and the bottom of said baifle device in close proximity tosaid boss on the bottom of said water chamber said clamp surroundingsaid tube at a point below and adjacent to said perforation.

6. In an acetylene lamp, the combination of a Water chamber, a carbidcontainer detachably secured thereto so as to form a generating chamber,a Water tube carried by said water chamber and connecting said chambers,a burner tube carried by said water chamber, a burner on said burnertube, a baflie device, having an upwardly extending substantiallyvertical flange and a central perforation and covering the internal endof said burner tube, said water tube passing through said bafiie deviceand a clamp engaging said tube and holding the flange of said baflledevice in close proximity to the bottom of said water container, thebottom of said water chamber being provided with a circular dependingsubstan tially vertical flange forming a circular cavity and said baflledevice having a diameter slightly less than the diameter of said cavityso as to form a constricted passage be tween the depending flange of thewater container and the upwardly extending flange of the baflie device.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

FREDERIC E. BALDWIN. Witnesses:

A. WHITE, T. F. Knrron.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. i

